160 
JOURNEY ALONG THE ORANGE RIVER. [Feb. 8, 1858. 
lure of the country to which he has alluded. It is a point which to many 
persons in this room must he of great interest. I wish to ask, with regard to 
the occurrence of these fossil hones in the fissure which he describes as forming 
the outlet to the waters of the Orange River on the west, as the fissure through 
which the Zambesi flows has afforded an outlet to the waters on the east, 
whether the formation in which these hones occur may not have been one of 
the original rocks of the country, instead of being formed, as he states, by the 
eddy of the waters themselves ? There seemed to me, from the manner in 
which he described these bones as occurring in the deposit, evidences rather of 
its being the original formation of the country, and that the bones had been 
washed out of this deposit and not washed into it by the eddy. It is a ques- 
tion of great importance in a geological point of view, whether they were 
washed in by the water at a recent period, or whether the deposit belonged to 
the original soil of the country, and had been merely laid bare by the action of 
the water flowing through this fissure ? If Dr. Livingstone could give any 
information on the subject, it would, I think, be very interesting. 
Dr. Livingstone.- — The bones were not found in the fissure. The fis- 
sure is altogether distinct from the part where the bones were found. The 
fissure was made at the side of the large lake, and it let out the water. There 
was a river which flowed from the northern part of the country, and about 
100 miles to the north-east of the fissure, it fell into the lake. It was at the 
confluence of the river with the lake and not near the fissure that the mound 
was formed. It might be that the water of that ancient river had excavated 
the bones out of the country beyond. The general character is trap, which 
for hundreds of miles is perfectly flat ; and over this trap we have a deposit of 
soft white tufa. We find this tufa deposited in considerable quantities in 
ancient fountains and wherever ancient streams have flowed. If the mound 
was formed of any other substance, say the detritus of the trap, then we might 
conclude that the bones had been excavated out of the banks of the river and 
deposited there. But the bones are found in the tufa deposited by the water, 
and as the tufa came from the water I imagine the bones came from the water 
after having floated down. 
Mr. W. J. Hamilton. — I think from the explanation of Dr. Livingstone, 
it would appear that the bones are of a much more ancient formation than 
his first description of them would have led us to suppose. His first im- 
pression was that they were washed by the waters into the eddy, whereas by 
his present account it appears that they were pre-existing, and were merely 
washed out or exposed by the action of the water. 
Dr. Livingstone. — I imagine the tufa was deposited in the eddy of the 
waters, and these bones, floating down, were deposited in the tufa ; then 
the weather wore away the tufa and exposed the bones. Some of the bones 
had fallen down to the bottom of the mound. But all would be cleared up if 
some geologists would go there and examine the mound. 
The President. — I beg to say that I completely understand the nature of 
the question put by Mr. Hamilton, and of the answer of Dr. Livingstone! I 
have not conversed with my friend respecting the structure of the interior of 
Africa without being completely cognisant of what he meant. If I understand 
him aright, there was a period when a large region of the interior was occupied 
by waters that have now been let off. The animals which inhabited the 
banks of the broader and deeper waters at that period have perished, and 
their bones have been deposited in this tufa. That tufa being desiccated, 
bones have been found in it. 
Dr. Livingstone. — The bones are found in a mound. 
The President. — Very well : the bones are found in a mound which has 
been formed out of these tufaceous deposits. I perfectly understand Dr. 
Livingstone, who has given a very fair and rational explanation of the whole 
